In What Area of Life Would I Prefer “First Come, First Served,” to “High Bid Wins?”

Today, there is an unspoken rule between shoppers in stores. If a shopper is able to find a limited item other customers do not fight with them for that item; the shopper who picked up the item first is the one who is now entitled to the item. This is also seen in stores, movie theaters, and sports game lines, where the people who are in line first can get done whatever they intend to do before anyone else in the line. “First come, first served,” is the name of this unspoken rule that has become the norm in many areas. A different rule that is mostly in auctions, is the rule of “high bid wins:” whoever offers to pay the highest amount is entitled to buy whatever is being sold. “High bid wins,” is the preferred rule in certain situations, over the rule, “first come, first served,” but the latter rule is more common today. If I had control over what areas of life implemented those rules, in what area of life would I prefer “first come, first served,” to the latter social rule?

Personally, I would prefer, “first come, first served,” when I am shopping in stores, waiting in a movie theater line, library line, or even a town fair line(which is far from ideal), over the latter rule. I believe that those areas of life would be a disaster without the “first come, first served,” rule. Who would want to undertake a ticket line for a fair, where everyone is shouting different sums of money, and fighting to state the highest sum of money? Of course, it is important to acknowledge that the rule “first come, first served,” has become an issue in society today, especially in regard to medical care, but it would be ludicrous to do away with this rule.

Society today is governed by unspoken rules, which help ensure that daily life in society will run smoothly. “First come, first served,” and “high bid wins,” are two examples of rules governing society regarding purchasing items, lines, and most monetary exchanges. “First come, first served,” is the rule seen most frequently in our society today, and governs many areas, including medical care. Though without this rule many areas of life today would be disorganized, this rule is not perfect and should not be applied to some of the areas that it is applied to today.